


The Brave and the Bold: Batman and Green Lantern

by Moodrum63



Category: Batman - Fandom, DC Comics, Green Lantern - Fandom, Jack the Ripper - Fandom, Metropolis (1927), The Brave and the Bold - Fandom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-29
Updated: 2020-11-29
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:15:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,545
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27766606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moodrum63/pseuds/Moodrum63
Summary: "The Brave and the Bold" #59 from May 1963 is the first appearance of Batman teaming up with another DC character.  Aside from that, the story is a bit ... well, juvenile.  I have decided to start here and build on brave and bold adventures through the years, watching Batman age and having real and tangible events affect him.





	The Brave and the Bold: Batman and Green Lantern

John Starr is a 30-something amateur chronologist, astronomer and adventurer. While on one of his travels in Egypt, he stumbled upon a strange multi-colored gemstone. Once grabbing it, he was instantly teleported through time into the past. He soon realized that just by concentrating while holding the stone, he could go anywhere into the past or future, but could only remain out-of-time as long as he focused his concentration. Once tiring, he would return to his proper time. He decided to become a costumed adventurer (in fact, a criminal, a time-pirate) and plunder the past and sell his goods in the present or future. After fashioning an hourglass to contain his gemstone, he realized he could project his concentration onto other things … or even people, and send them into the past or future - but only for an hour. 

As the Time Commander, Starr comes to Gotham City to sell an artifact to multi-millionaire, Bruce Wayne, arriving at Wayne Manor in full costume. Once Wayne realizes he is dealing with a criminal, he decides to become involved as BATMAN, for he realizes that the Time Commander is too powerful to remain in control of the hourglass. Wayne tells the Time Commander he is very interested in the artifact, but refuses to do such sorted business in his own person and in his very home, so he makes an appointment for a liaison to meet the pirate on top of a tenement building that Wayne owns in the poorer section of Gotham. (In truth, Bruce Wayne does not own such a building, so plans to show up as Batman and rob the Time Commander of his hourglass.)

Unbeknownst to both Batman and the Time Commander, GREEN LANTERN is on the trail of a disturbance in _time and space_. This is caused by the Time Commander’s use of the gemstone hourglass, and Green Lantern is tracking the disturbance straight to Gotham City.

At midnight, Batman waits atop the building for his surprise visit with the Time Commander, when suddenly a voice from above surprises Batman! He looks upward and sees a green man bathed in eerie green light floating over his head. The two heroes have never met before. They begin to talk and Green Lantern lands on the roof. Batman explains his situation as Green Lantern says that his ring has led him to this building in search of the _time-and-space_ disruption. Batman realizes that the Time Commander must be close. As the young and hot-headed Batman tries to shoo Green Lantern to the side, Green Lantern insists that his ring is more qualified to confiscate the hourglass.

As the two heroes argue, they are unaware that the Time Commander is upon them, listening to their conversation! Batman pulls his batarang from his utility belt as Green Lantern points his ring at the hourglass, but unknown to them both is that the Time Commander can send other things into the past or future. He concentrates and two separate beams of light flash out - a red beam for Batman and a blue beam for Green Lantern - the red beam sending objects into the past, and the blue beam into the future! In a flash … both Batman and Green Lantern are gone, as the Time Commander laughs.

IN THE PAST … Batman finds himself on a rooftop clearly in a different city. It is even darker and filthier than Gotham … but it most certainly isn’t Gotham City. A scream suddenly cuts through the night. The young Batman presses a button on his utility belt and his cape suddenly fans out, becoming more rigid and glider-like. Batman swoops down to the street below and is engulfed in thick fog! He hears a horse’s foot-falls and the turning of wooden wheels on stone pavement. The street light is a street lamp, running on gas light. And in the alley, he sees a murdered woman in the dress of Victorian England! 

Batman now knows he is in the past of 1888 London. In the time of Jack the Ripper!

As sure as the thought fills Batman’s mind, he feels the knife cut into his glider-cape! He turns and judos his attacker to the ground. The man curses Batman, and the caped crusader knows this is the man who murdered the woman in the alley. This is Jack the Ripper!

The Ripper kicks Batman’s feet out from under him, sending Batman to the dirty pavement. Jack jumps to his feet and begins to run, when Batman returns the favor. As Jack falls on top of Batman, he stabs the hero in the upper chest with his bloody knife, and Batman screams in pain. The Ripper jumps to his feet again and dashes off into the fog, as Batman lays on the ground with the knife in his chest.

IN THE FUTURE … Green Lantern finds himself floating in the air, his ring automatically protecting him from falling in the sudden absence of rooftop. He is also in the daylight as he stares in shock at a huge gold-gleaming metropolis! This certainly isn’t Gotham City … _but where is it?_

Green Lantern flies about the city and notices that high elevated tracks allow trans to travel the city, while on street level there is only filth and poverty. He discovers that the mass of the populace work beneath the ground, running huge banks of computers and machines to generate water, food product and electricity. A percentage of about 10% live in the towering, gleaming skyscrapers.

As he is flying by one of the most beautiful buildings, he notices a golden female robot standing on a balcony watching him, and flies over to meet “her”. She says her name is Jocasta and she has never seen a man like Green Lantern. From Jocasta, Green Lantern learns that the year is 2727 and the name of the city is Metropolis, and he wonders if it is the same Metropolis as the home of Superman.

Green Lantern decides to go beneath the city to see the level of oppression over the people. Diving down a shaft thousands of feet deep, he finally levels off and see hundreds of slaving men and women working in incredible temperatures on machines that tower over them, requiring stairways to work all levels from ground to upper. He is unable to hide himself, a glowing green beckon in a world of black and gray and minimum light.

He speaks with the workers, who are overwhelmed by his very being, and as they tell him of their hardships, a young, dark haired woman dressed in a dirty white workers gown climbs one of the main stairways and begins to speak to the crowds. She is unaware of Green Lantern’s existence, and tries to get the workers to revolt for their equal rights.

As Green Lantern listens to this woman and smiles, hoping that they will be able to fight for themselves, he feels light-headed and within seconds he vanishes away. He had spent one hour in the future and now was being whisked back to the present.

Meanwhile … Batman awakes from passing out on the cobblestone streets of Whitechapel, London. The knife is still in his chest but only deep enough to have caused Batman to pass out … _but for how long?_

No one seems to have walked upon him or come to the murdered woman’s earlier scream. Batman places his hand on the knife and pulls it straight out, then placing his other hand hard over the wound, he slowly stands and wonders if he will die a stranger in a strange time.

He staggers over to the dead woman and makes sure she is quite dead. She is, but which victim of the Ripper’s is she? He didn’t know Ripper history much at all and was unable to confirm her identity. For a few moments, he simply stands and looks about London, not being able to see much at all for the thick fog, then his head grows light and he begins to fall forward as he disappears in thin air.

Batman had been in Whitechapel for one hour and now was going back to the present.

NOW … both Batman and Green Lantern reappear on the rooftop in Gotham City in 1963. Batman finishes his fall to the ground as Green Lantern rushes to his aid. Not losing consciousness, Batman tells as much as he can to Green Lantern, who then using his power ring to place Batman on a green stretcher with a green bandage wrapped around Batman’s chest. He then flies them both in the direction of Batman’s dictation … to the Batcave!

The Time Commander has escaped. Batman and Green Lantern have forged a friendship. Green Lantern leaves the Batcave, knowing that Batman trusts him with all the secrets he so far has learned. Both heroes live to fight another day ... and so may the Time Commander.

IN THE END ... Batman recovered from his wound. Green Lantern waited for days and weeks and months for the Time Commander to use his hourglass and open up the trail once again … as if the criminal figured out how he was detected and stopped using his gemstone. Batman retained a two-inch scar on his upper right chest … and the souvenir of Jack the Ripper’s knife.


End file.
